Update: The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning until 9 p.m. for the following:

North-central Christian County

Northeastern Stone County

Southeastern Greene County.

A line of severe thunderstorms that spawned tornado reports in Barry, McDonald, Lawrence and Newton — among other — counties was headed toward Springfield this evening.

"Most of the storms that have come across southwest Missouri have had some sort of rotation with them," said Mike Albano, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Springfield, in an update posted online. "We've had a handful of confirmed, damaging tornadoes and this threat is going to continue."

Albano said numerous "discrete supercells," some more organized than others, have spawned tornado reports in southwest Missouri.

Kelsey Angle, also a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Springfield, said the initial trio of reports — including potential damage — came in between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m. Tuesday.

"There have been reports of damage," he said.

Throughout Tuesday evening, most of southwest Missouri was under a tornado watch with pockets of tornado warnings.

"It's important to remain weather aware today, tomorrow and right through Thursday," he said. "We expect a busy weather week."

The line of storms is traveling northeast at 30 mph, meaning heavy rain, damaging hail, flooding and the possibility of tornadoes may hit Springfield and nearby cities during the rush hour, when many are traveling home from work.

Holly Michelle posted photos of hail near Golden, 70 miles south of Springfield.

In addition to the threat of high winds and tornadoes, much of southwest Missouri is also under a flash flood warning with rainfall amounts — through Thursday — ranging from 2-1/2 inches to 5 inches.

In a Facebook post, the National Weather Service in Springfield noted that exactly nine years ago, a supercell thunderstorm produced five tornadoes on April 30, 2010. The hit the area included Ozark and Howell counties.

In Branson, employees at Silver Dollar City took shelter briefly Tuesday afternoon. Lisa Rau, director of publicity for the attraction and Herschend Family Entertainment Corp., said there was no damage reported.

Rau said a "very small crowd" took shelter at the Showboat Branson Belle through the 4 p.m. show. She said the attraction remained "tightly docked" Tuesday.

"It is 2.5 million pounds equipped with hurricane-force protected windows. All our emergency procedures call for keeping people in the ship if necessary."

Area school districts canceled evening events, including athletic practices and games.

Springfield Public Schools posted a list of six school buildings with storm shelters, which are available outside of school hours for residents in the community that live within what is referred to as the “Tornado Protection Zone."

The residents in the zones have been notified. The shelters are not designed to be used by those beyond the zone.

According to the Greene County Office of Emergency Management, residents planning to use a storm shelter need to arrive in a timely manner. The locations of the shelters include:

Fremont Elementary School, 2814 N. Fremont Ave.

Hillcrest High School, 3319 N. Grant Ave.

Jeffries Elementary School, 4051 S. Scenic Ave.

Kickapoo High School, 3710 S. Jefferson Ave.

Sherwood Elementary School, 2524 S. Golden Ave.

Westport K-8 School, 415 S. Golden Ave.

When a tornado warning is issued — and the tornado sirens activated — by the county’s Emergency Management director or Greene County’s 911 director, the shelter will be opened. The doors to the shelter will close 10 minutes after a warning is issued or sooner if tornadic activity is observed in the vicinity.